I was really expecting a white interior. I don't know why but I think in Peter Capaldi's last episode he said something like he misses the white interior. I personally hate all the darkness and can't see any difference between this interior and the last one.

The guy front and centre is the production designer responsible for this TARDIS interior.

2 things of interest. Firstly the new octagonal table - that's definitely new and was seen in Resolution. Secondly - what the hell is someone doing dressed as 11 from Stranger Things in the front row?! - seems a bit random when everyone else isn't in fancy dress!

This is a screenshot of the TARDIS interior from the recently announced upcoming VR game.

Looks great!.... so why can't the actual set look this good.
I know that there are practical considerations but its a bit embarrassing when the VR representation of the TARDIS interior looks way better than the filming set.

The guy front and centre is the production designer responsible for this TARDIS interior.

2 things of interest. Firstly the new octagonal table - that's definitely new and was seen in Resolution. Secondly - what the hell is someone doing dressed as 11 from Stranger Things in the front row?! - seems a bit random when everyone else isn't in fancy dress!

Haven't seen Stranger Things, but I assume you're talking about the chap in the dress?

I was really expecting a white interior. I don't know why but I think in Peter Capaldi's last episode he said something like he misses the white interior. I personally hate all the darkness and can't see any difference between this interior and the last one.

No offence but, whilst I've heard others also pining for a return to a white interior, for me personally, I feel the reason they have steered clear of that sort of thing, it's because it's a very dated look now. In the 60's/70's/80's the idea that futuristic things would look all white and gleaming seemed to be the prevailing idea, which is why many things from those times use this kind of aesthetic. In this way, having the TARDIS interior looking that way was very on the nose and forward thinking at that time. Then though, people started to actually realise that the future would actually just be the present for the people living in those times, which is why in more modern times we now see spaceships or future towns etc that actually look lived in and have more detailed design to them, which is why, even in the 90's TV movie, the one good thing I can say about it is that it is that it had moved with the times in regards to the design of the TARDIS interior, which then RTD and followed on with.

For me personally seeing the gleaming white original style TARDIS interior in hell bent and again in twice upon a time only served to show how much more interesting and developed 12's TARDIS interior looked by comparison. Whilst it wouldn't be a huge deal to me, I feel that if they decided to suddenly do back to the gleaming white TARDIS interior tomorrow, I would just feel that it looked very dated.

P.s also if you really can't see the difference between 12's TARDIS and the current one then maybe it really is too dark for you to see

I think the whole problem is Chibnall wanting "new everything" and that this is a BBC show with a BBC budget.

I have absolutely no idea about production design and associated costs but its pretty clear that the new set costs a fraction of the old one. The console is constructed with 'off the shelf' components from a plumbers merchant and pipework that is cheap and readily available. The 'crystal' columns are very poorly realised in what is clearly a plastic material. The surrounding areas are deliberately shrouded in darkness, robbing us of seeing an exit door to the rest of the ship, just to cover up the shortcomings of the design and build.

A few posts up I linked a photo from the VR set which at least makes the concept look a bit decent.

Although I understand the wish to change things.. and I do love seeing a new console room - I just wish that they only changed it when they could afford to do it justice (as indeed the last one was).

My hope is that in series 12 and beyond they can throw a bit more money at it and make some significant changes. After all, the last set was continuously tweaked between seasons and looked even better at the end of Capaldi's run than it did when it first appeared with Matt Smith.

My concern is that "you can't polish a ****" - and there seems to be very little they can do that will make that console room look great and we are probably stuck with it for the foreseeable future.

Anyone else remember when those pictures of the set unlit were leaked, and all those who didn't approve of the mostly negative reaction told us that it would look much better when we saw it all lit up and in action?

If anything it looked worse when we saw it in action because the lighting helped us see how cheap it looked (what we could see of it, considering they didn't seem to do many panning shots, mostly close up as if they were embarrased for us to get too good a look at it.) and those arm things attached to the console look as though they might fall apart every time they're moving.

The whole thing is just a plastic-y looking disappointment, and to top it off there's been no indication or evidence that there's any other rooms in the TARDIS. If I didn't know better I'd honestly think the showrunner was someone who hadn't seen the show before, or at least not enough of it to know that there was supposed to be a door to other rooms. Yet we have someone in charge who is supposedly as big a fan as RTD and Moffat who was happy to let that design pass.

Anyone else remember when those pictures of the set unlit were leaked, and all those who didn't approve of the mostly negative reaction told us that it would look much better when we saw it all lit up and in action?

If anything it looked worse when we saw it in action because the lighting helped us see how cheap it looked (what we could see of it, considering they didn't seem to do many panning shots, mostly close up as if they were embarrased for us to get too good a look at it.) and those arm things attached to the console look as though they might fall apart every time they're moving.

The whole thing is just a plastic-y looking disappointment, and to top it off there's been no indication or evidence that there's any other rooms in the TARDIS. If I didn't know better I'd honestly think the showrunner was someone who hadn't seen the show before, or at least not enough of it to know that there was supposed to be a door to other rooms. Yet we have someone in charge who is supposedly as big a fan as RTD and Moffat who was happy to let that design pass.

Completely agree with everything you've said there.

It looked terrible in that leaked shot... and its not much better on screen. Its an interesting observation of yours about the wide and panning shots... you are right - there aren't any and it is definitely like they are a bit embarrassed about it.

I mean, if you look at the series as a whole, the interior usage has been minimal and in fact didn't appear at all in a handful of stories. That doesn't exactly demonstrate confidence. It was also very telling on the 'big reveal' at the end of episode 2 that we hardly saw any of it.

That stupid 'custard cream' dispenser has of course not seen the light of day again - I mean.... what a silly idea, and for all the 'effort' it took to build the mechanism, exactly how and when could that be used in a story in the future?!

The console itself is stupid... very few actual 'controls' on it and its totally unbelievable and im surprised it was given the green light. I loved the last one as it actually looked functional, and I hated 9/10's as I just didn't buy the fact you would fly the TARDIS using a bicycle pump and bell. Again, take a look at those rare interior shots, when the Doctor is 'flying' the TARDIS the camera is mostly on her face rather than whatever mime she is doing on the console. Flying the TARDIS by spinning a big hour glass is just plain ridiculous and it reminds me of a console built by the same people that do those babies activity mats.

One thing I did notice, is that in Resolution we had far more interior shots than any other episode... in fact I would take a guess that its had more screen time in that one episode that the whole of the rest of series 11 combined. Also, there were some changes evident - the lighting was different and variable (blue and red modes), and they introduced that table.

Given as Ive said before, they changed the last set in quite significant ways from when it first was seen (whole additional staircase, roundels, book cases etc etc) - I am sure they can make a number of changes to at least make the thing a bit better.

Keeping it 'realistic' I would hope they address the following which as all do-able even on a small budget:

1. Change the environmental lighting, brighten it up.
2. Add a visible exit door or opening that leads to the rest of the ship. (it always really annoyed me with 9/10's set that they didn't put a door in there). I miss the old days when the Doctor was regularly seen walking through the corridors of the TARDIS and seeing more things like companion's bedrooms etc.
3. Make the main TARDIS entrance lead directly to the front of the box instead of the back - its just looks silly with the tardis no longer looking like it is 'inside' the box.
4. Do something with the 'time rotor' - it looks a bit daft going up and down.
5. Re-build those crystal columns out of a different material that actually resembles crystal. Something translucent or a resin - and ditch the waggling tips - they have rarely been seen in shot (what a waste of effort to build that mechanism!) and when they are seen (no doubt they rarely work) they just look silly. Ditch them and rebuild the columns.

Anyone else remember when those pictures of the set unlit were leaked, and all those who didn't approve of the mostly negative reaction told us that it would look much better when we saw it all lit up and in action?

If anything it looked worse when we saw it in action because the lighting helped us see how cheap it looked (what we could see of it, considering they didn't seem to do many panning shots, mostly close up as if they were embarrased for us to get too good a look at it.) and those arm things attached to the console look as though they might fall apart every time they're moving.

The whole thing is just a plastic-y looking disappointment, and to top it off there's been no indication or evidence that there's any other rooms in the TARDIS. If I didn't know better I'd honestly think the showrunner was someone who hadn't seen the show before, or at least not enough of it to know that there was supposed to be a door to other rooms. Yet we have someone in charge who is supposedly as big a fan as RTD and Moffat who was happy to let that design pass.

Completely agree with everything you've said there.

It looked terrible in that leaked shot... and its not much better on screen. Its an interesting observation of yours about the wide and panning shots... you are right - there aren't any and it is definitely like they are a bit embarrassed about it.

I mean, if you look at the series as a whole, the interior usage has been minimal and in fact didn't appear at all in a handful of stories. That doesn't exactly demonstrate confidence. It was also very telling on the 'big reveal' at the end of episode 2 that we hardly saw any of it.

That stupid 'custard cream' dispenser has of course not seen the light of day again - I mean.... what a silly idea, and for all the 'effort' it took to build the mechanism, exactly how and when could that be used in a story in the future?!

The console itself is stupid... very few actual 'controls' on it and its totally unbelievable and im surprised it was given the green light. I loved the last one as it actually looked functional, and I hated 9/10's as I just didn't buy the fact you would fly the TARDIS using a bicycle pump and bell. Again, take a look at those rare interior shots, when the Doctor is 'flying' the TARDIS the camera is mostly on her face rather than whatever mime she is doing on the console. Flying the TARDIS by spinning a big hour glass is just plain ridiculous and it reminds me of a console built by the same people that do those babies activity mats.

One thing I did notice, is that in Resolution we had far more interior shots than any other episode... in fact I would take a guess that its had more screen time in that one episode that the whole of the rest of series 11 combined. Also, there were some changes evident - the lighting was different and variable (blue and red modes), and they introduced that table.

Given as Ive said before, they changed the last set in quite significant ways from when it first was seen (whole additional staircase, roundels, book cases etc etc) - I am sure they can make a number of changes to at least make the thing a bit better.

Keeping it 'realistic' I would hope they address the following which as all do-able even on a small budget:

1. Change the environmental lighting, brighten it up.
2. Add a visible exit door or opening that leads to the rest of the ship. (it always really annoyed me with 9/10's set that they didn't put a door in there). I miss the old days when the Doctor was regularly seen walking through the corridors of the TARDIS and seeing more things like companion's bedrooms etc.
3. Make the main TARDIS entrance lead directly to the front of the box instead of the back - its just looks silly with the tardis no longer looking like it is 'inside' the box.
4. Do something with the 'time rotor' - it looks a bit daft going up and down.
5. Re-build those crystal columns out of a different material that actually resembles crystal. Something translucent or a resin - and ditch the waggling tips - they have rarely been seen in shot (what a waste of effort to build that mechanism!) and when they are seen (no doubt they rarely work) they just look silly. Ditch them and rebuild the columns.

Anyway, we can but hope.

Some good ideas here that you'd think wouldn't cost much to implement. Before reading your post i'd completely forgotten about (or maybe blanked out for my sanity) the custard cream dispenser and I cringed just being reminded of it ( not to mention the spinning TARDIS model that looked more like fan merchandise than something that should have a place in the real on screen TARDIS)

Also regarding your comments on 9/10's TARDIS I'd point out in its defence that whilst you may not have actually seen a door, it was always indicated there was one just off screen as we saw in the unquiet dead when 9 pointed towards where they imagined the door leading away from the console room to be and gave Rose directions on how to get to the wardrobe room, and then of course in the Christmas invasion we actually saw 10 in a wardrobe.

If it really isn't possible to change much in the interior, then on the other rooms issue, I think they could get away with doing much the same in series 12 (e.g have 13 walk into shot from the back area of the set eating and apple and have her say something like ' just went to grab a snack from the TARDIS kitchen). I just want an actual acknowledgement that there are other rooms, even if it is just a dialogue based acknowledgement rather than actually seeing anything (although obviously seeing other rooms is always better), because series 11 felt like it was written and designed by someone who had no idea that the TARDIS has other rooms, which is baffling from a long term fan such as Chibnall is supposed to be.

Not a fan. I don't totally hate it, but it is unimpressive, tacky materials in places and smacks of millennial ravers brainstorming on a comedown.
When the custard cream dispenser appeared I thought "The whimsy is weak with this one". It reminded me of things that people have made for steampunk conventions, and there is always a vast difference in the inspiration found by people who are passionate about Victorian culture, steam and industrial revolution... and the people who are passionate about looking steampunk.

Anyone else remember when those pictures of the set unlit were leaked, and all those who didn't approve of the mostly negative reaction told us that it would look much better when we saw it all lit up and in action?

If anything it looked worse when we saw it in action because the lighting helped us see how cheap it looked (what we could see of it, considering they didn't seem to do many panning shots, mostly close up as if they were embarrased for us to get too good a look at it.) and those arm things attached to the console look as though they might fall apart every time they're moving.

The whole thing is just a plastic-y looking disappointment, and to top it off there's been no indication or evidence that there's any other rooms in the TARDIS. If I didn't know better I'd honestly think the showrunner was someone who hadn't seen the show before, or at least not enough of it to know that there was supposed to be a door to other rooms. Yet we have someone in charge who is supposedly as big a fan as RTD and Moffat who was happy to let that design pass.

Completely agree with everything you've said there.

It looked terrible in that leaked shot... and its not much better on screen. Its an interesting observation of yours about the wide and panning shots... you are right - there aren't any and it is definitely like they are a bit embarrassed about it.

I mean, if you look at the series as a whole, the interior usage has been minimal and in fact didn't appear at all in a handful of stories. That doesn't exactly demonstrate confidence. It was also very telling on the 'big reveal' at the end of episode 2 that we hardly saw any of it.

That stupid 'custard cream' dispenser has of course not seen the light of day again - I mean.... what a silly idea, and for all the 'effort' it took to build the mechanism, exactly how and when could that be used in a story in the future?!

The console itself is stupid... very few actual 'controls' on it and its totally unbelievable and im surprised it was given the green light. I loved the last one as it actually looked functional, and I hated 9/10's as I just didn't buy the fact you would fly the TARDIS using a bicycle pump and bell. Again, take a look at those rare interior shots, when the Doctor is 'flying' the TARDIS the camera is mostly on her face rather than whatever mime she is doing on the console. Flying the TARDIS by spinning a big hour glass is just plain ridiculous and it reminds me of a console built by the same people that do those babies activity mats.

One thing I did notice, is that in Resolution we had far more interior shots than any other episode... in fact I would take a guess that its had more screen time in that one episode that the whole of the rest of series 11 combined. Also, there were some changes evident - the lighting was different and variable (blue and red modes), and they introduced that table.

Given as Ive said before, they changed the last set in quite significant ways from when it first was seen (whole additional staircase, roundels, book cases etc etc) - I am sure they can make a number of changes to at least make the thing a bit better.

Keeping it 'realistic' I would hope they address the following which as all do-able even on a small budget:

1. Change the environmental lighting, brighten it up.
2. Add a visible exit door or opening that leads to the rest of the ship. (it always really annoyed me with 9/10's set that they didn't put a door in there). I miss the old days when the Doctor was regularly seen walking through the corridors of the TARDIS and seeing more things like companion's bedrooms etc.
3. Make the main TARDIS entrance lead directly to the front of the box instead of the back - its just looks silly with the tardis no longer looking like it is 'inside' the box.
4. Do something with the 'time rotor' - it looks a bit daft going up and down.
5. Re-build those crystal columns out of a different material that actually resembles crystal. Something translucent or a resin - and ditch the waggling tips - they have rarely been seen in shot (what a waste of effort to build that mechanism!) and when they are seen (no doubt they rarely work) they just look silly. Ditch them and rebuild the columns.

Anyway, we can but hope.

Some good ideas here that you'd think wouldn't cost much to implement. Before reading your post i'd completely forgotten about (or maybe blanked out for my sanity) the custard cream dispenser and I cringed just being reminded of it ( not to mention the spinning TARDIS model that looked more like fan merchandise than something that should have a place in the real on screen TARDIS)

Also regarding your comments on 9/10's TARDIS I'd point out in its defence that whilst you may not have actually seen a door, it was always indicated there was one just off screen as we saw in the unquiet dead when 9 pointed towards where they imagined the door leading away from the console room to be and gave Rose directions on how to get to the wardrobe room, and then of course in the Christmas invasion we actually saw 10 in a wardrobe.

If it really isn't possible to change much in the interior, then on the other rooms issue, I think they could get away with doing much the same in series 12 (e.g have 13 walk into shot from the back area of the set eating and apple and have her say something like ' just went to grab a snack from the TARDIS kitchen). I just want an actual acknowledgement that there are other rooms, even if it is just a dialogue based acknowledgement rather than actually seeing anything (although obviously seeing other rooms is always better), because series 11 felt like it was written and designed by someone who had no idea that the TARDIS has other rooms, which is baffling from a long term fan such as Chibnall is supposed to be.

Mentioning the door is one thing of course... but it bugged me that they couldn't be bothered to actually build one in the set. As that set was circular, we are supposed to accept that the door is where the 'fourth wall' is (i.e. where the camera always is) My point is that it wouldnt have taken much to put one in view even if its never walked through.

On memory, 11/12's set had about 4 visible exits - none of which we actually ever saw 'used' but added to the realism.

Your point about the spinning TARDIS model is another thing that jarred with me the instant I saw it.... it IS some Dr Who merchandise (plastic or glass TARDIS model) - why on earth they decided to stick it on the console I've no idea. Given that a TARDIS is supposed to changed its external form, why put a solid model of that on the console.

Also, deserving special mention apart from the custard cream dispenser are the two hourglasses. Now, these are elegant looking things of course... but when she flies the TARDIS by spinning them.... well frankly that looks ridiculous.

And... remember when Yas's watch was 'connected'... they didn't even have some kind of believable area or panel or component to connect it to... so she basically just plopped it on top of some random plumbing fitting that happened to be on the console.

Whilst I'm on a roll here... personally I suspect that the shortcomings are apparent to the production team also - hence the fact we've seen little of it. The one thing that I think is just silly, is that at some point they realised that they had no screens or visual display reference points on or around the console, and so they get around this by picking a random bit of the structure and 'project' some display information on it. Now... I strongly suspect that this was never the intention but they realised they had messed up.

I did actually hear rumours a while back that there were serious issues with the new console room and that was proving problematic when filming. I have no idea what the nature of those problems was but it does kind of make sense that we have seen very little of it in series 11.

Given my continual whining about the console room (im sorry everyone!) I am very interested to see what happens next series. I suspect that changes will have to be made although probably the more casual viewer might not even notice. I suspect that any changes will primarily be made for production reasons (non working camera angles, waggling mechanisms that often break down) instead of functional aesthetics.

Personally, I think that the TARDIS is a huge part of Dr Who, the set is incredibly important and its something that they have to get right and can't neglect. This was a low budget poor effort and it shows. I hope they fix it.

Anyone else remember when those pictures of the set unlit were leaked, and all those who didn't approve of the mostly negative reaction told us that it would look much better when we saw it all lit up and in action?

If anything it looked worse when we saw it in action because the lighting helped us see how cheap it looked (what we could see of it, considering they didn't seem to do many panning shots, mostly close up as if they were embarrased for us to get too good a look at it.) and those arm things attached to the console look as though they might fall apart every time they're moving.

The whole thing is just a plastic-y looking disappointment, and to top it off there's been no indication or evidence that there's any other rooms in the TARDIS. If I didn't know better I'd honestly think the showrunner was someone who hadn't seen the show before, or at least not enough of it to know that there was supposed to be a door to other rooms. Yet we have someone in charge who is supposedly as big a fan as RTD and Moffat who was happy to let that design pass.

Completely agree with everything you've said there.

It looked terrible in that leaked shot... and its not much better on screen. Its an interesting observation of yours about the wide and panning shots... you are right - there aren't any and it is definitely like they are a bit embarrassed about it.

I mean, if you look at the series as a whole, the interior usage has been minimal and in fact didn't appear at all in a handful of stories. That doesn't exactly demonstrate confidence. It was also very telling on the 'big reveal' at the end of episode 2 that we hardly saw any of it.

That stupid 'custard cream' dispenser has of course not seen the light of day again - I mean.... what a silly idea, and for all the 'effort' it took to build the mechanism, exactly how and when could that be used in a story in the future?!

The console itself is stupid... very few actual 'controls' on it and its totally unbelievable and im surprised it was given the green light. I loved the last one as it actually looked functional, and I hated 9/10's as I just didn't buy the fact you would fly the TARDIS using a bicycle pump and bell. Again, take a look at those rare interior shots, when the Doctor is 'flying' the TARDIS the camera is mostly on her face rather than whatever mime she is doing on the console. Flying the TARDIS by spinning a big hour glass is just plain ridiculous and it reminds me of a console built by the same people that do those babies activity mats.

One thing I did notice, is that in Resolution we had far more interior shots than any other episode... in fact I would take a guess that its had more screen time in that one episode that the whole of the rest of series 11 combined. Also, there were some changes evident - the lighting was different and variable (blue and red modes), and they introduced that table.

Given as Ive said before, they changed the last set in quite significant ways from when it first was seen (whole additional staircase, roundels, book cases etc etc) - I am sure they can make a number of changes to at least make the thing a bit better.

Keeping it 'realistic' I would hope they address the following which as all do-able even on a small budget:

1. Change the environmental lighting, brighten it up.
2. Add a visible exit door or opening that leads to the rest of the ship. (it always really annoyed me with 9/10's set that they didn't put a door in there). I miss the old days when the Doctor was regularly seen walking through the corridors of the TARDIS and seeing more things like companion's bedrooms etc.
3. Make the main TARDIS entrance lead directly to the front of the box instead of the back - its just looks silly with the tardis no longer looking like it is 'inside' the box.
4. Do something with the 'time rotor' - it looks a bit daft going up and down.
5. Re-build those crystal columns out of a different material that actually resembles crystal. Something translucent or a resin - and ditch the waggling tips - they have rarely been seen in shot (what a waste of effort to build that mechanism!) and when they are seen (no doubt they rarely work) they just look silly. Ditch them and rebuild the columns.

Anyway, we can but hope.

Some good ideas here that you'd think wouldn't cost much to implement. Before reading your post i'd completely forgotten about (or maybe blanked out for my sanity) the custard cream dispenser and I cringed just being reminded of it ( not to mention the spinning TARDIS model that looked more like fan merchandise than something that should have a place in the real on screen TARDIS)

Also regarding your comments on 9/10's TARDIS I'd point out in its defence that whilst you may not have actually seen a door, it was always indicated there was one just off screen as we saw in the unquiet dead when 9 pointed towards where they imagined the door leading away from the console room to be and gave Rose directions on how to get to the wardrobe room, and then of course in the Christmas invasion we actually saw 10 in a wardrobe.

If it really isn't possible to change much in the interior, then on the other rooms issue, I think they could get away with doing much the same in series 12 (e.g have 13 walk into shot from the back area of the set eating and apple and have her say something like ' just went to grab a snack from the TARDIS kitchen). I just want an actual acknowledgement that there are other rooms, even if it is just a dialogue based acknowledgement rather than actually seeing anything (although obviously seeing other rooms is always better), because series 11 felt like it was written and designed by someone who had no idea that the TARDIS has other rooms, which is baffling from a long term fan such as Chibnall is supposed to be.

Mentioning the door is one thing of course... but it bugged me that they couldn't be bothered to actually build one in the set. As that set was circular, we are supposed to accept that the door is where the 'fourth wall' is (i.e. where the camera always is) My point is that it wouldnt have taken much to put one in view even if its never walked through.

On memory, 11/12's set had about 4 visible exits - none of which we actually ever saw 'used' but added to the realism.

Your point about the spinning TARDIS model is another thing that jarred with me the instant I saw it.... it IS some Dr Who merchandise (plastic or glass TARDIS model) - why on earth they decided to stick it on the console I've no idea. Given that a TARDIS is supposed to changed its external form, why put a solid model of that on the console.

Also, deserving special mention apart from the custard cream dispenser are the two hourglasses. Now, these are elegant looking things of course... but when she flies the TARDIS by spinning them.... well frankly that looks ridiculous.

And... remember when Yas's watch was 'connected'... they didn't even have some kind of believable area or panel or component to connect it to... so she basically just plopped it on top of some random plumbing fitting that happened to be on the console.

Whilst I'm on a roll here... personally I suspect that the shortcomings are apparent to the production team also - hence the fact we've seen little of it. The one thing that I think is just silly, is that at some point they realised that they had no screens or visual display reference points on or around the console, and so they get around this by picking a random bit of the structure and 'project' some display information on it. Now... I strongly suspect that this was never the intention but they realised they had messed up.

I did actually hear rumours a while back that there were serious issues with the new console room and that was proving problematic when filming. I have no idea what the nature of those problems was but it does kind of make sense that we have seen very little of it in series 11.

Given my continual whining about the console room (im sorry everyone!) I am very interested to see what happens next series. I suspect that changes will have to be made although probably the more casual viewer might not even notice. I suspect that any changes will primarily be made for production reasons (non working camera angles, waggling mechanisms that often break down) instead of functional aesthetics.

Personally, I think that the TARDIS is a huge part of Dr Who, the set is incredibly important and its something that they have to get right and can't neglect. This was a low budget poor effort and it shows. I hope they fix it.

Anyone else remember when those pictures of the set unlit were leaked, and all those who didn't approve of the mostly negative reaction told us that it would look much better when we saw it all lit up and in action?

If anything it looked worse when we saw it in action because the lighting helped us see how cheap it looked (what we could see of it, considering they didn't seem to do many panning shots, mostly close up as if they were embarrased for us to get too good a look at it.) and those arm things attached to the console look as though they might fall apart every time they're moving.

The whole thing is just a plastic-y looking disappointment, and to top it off there's been no indication or evidence that there's any other rooms in the TARDIS. If I didn't know better I'd honestly think the showrunner was someone who hadn't seen the show before, or at least not enough of it to know that there was supposed to be a door to other rooms. Yet we have someone in charge who is supposedly as big a fan as RTD and Moffat who was happy to let that design pass.

Completely agree with everything you've said there.

It looked terrible in that leaked shot... and its not much better on screen. Its an interesting observation of yours about the wide and panning shots... you are right - there aren't any and it is definitely like they are a bit embarrassed about it.

I mean, if you look at the series as a whole, the interior usage has been minimal and in fact didn't appear at all in a handful of stories. That doesn't exactly demonstrate confidence. It was also very telling on the 'big reveal' at the end of episode 2 that we hardly saw any of it.

That stupid 'custard cream' dispenser has of course not seen the light of day again - I mean.... what a silly idea, and for all the 'effort' it took to build the mechanism, exactly how and when could that be used in a story in the future?!

The console itself is stupid... very few actual 'controls' on it and its totally unbelievable and im surprised it was given the green light. I loved the last one as it actually looked functional, and I hated 9/10's as I just didn't buy the fact you would fly the TARDIS using a bicycle pump and bell. Again, take a look at those rare interior shots, when the Doctor is 'flying' the TARDIS the camera is mostly on her face rather than whatever mime she is doing on the console. Flying the TARDIS by spinning a big hour glass is just plain ridiculous and it reminds me of a console built by the same people that do those babies activity mats.

One thing I did notice, is that in Resolution we had far more interior shots than any other episode... in fact I would take a guess that its had more screen time in that one episode that the whole of the rest of series 11 combined. Also, there were some changes evident - the lighting was different and variable (blue and red modes), and they introduced that table.

Given as Ive said before, they changed the last set in quite significant ways from when it first was seen (whole additional staircase, roundels, book cases etc etc) - I am sure they can make a number of changes to at least make the thing a bit better.

Keeping it 'realistic' I would hope they address the following which as all do-able even on a small budget:

1. Change the environmental lighting, brighten it up.
2. Add a visible exit door or opening that leads to the rest of the ship. (it always really annoyed me with 9/10's set that they didn't put a door in there). I miss the old days when the Doctor was regularly seen walking through the corridors of the TARDIS and seeing more things like companion's bedrooms etc.
3. Make the main TARDIS entrance lead directly to the front of the box instead of the back - its just looks silly with the tardis no longer looking like it is 'inside' the box.
4. Do something with the 'time rotor' - it looks a bit daft going up and down.
5. Re-build those crystal columns out of a different material that actually resembles crystal. Something translucent or a resin - and ditch the waggling tips - they have rarely been seen in shot (what a waste of effort to build that mechanism!) and when they are seen (no doubt they rarely work) they just look silly. Ditch them and rebuild the columns.

Anyway, we can but hope.

Some good ideas here that you'd think wouldn't cost much to implement. Before reading your post i'd completely forgotten about (or maybe blanked out for my sanity) the custard cream dispenser and I cringed just being reminded of it ( not to mention the spinning TARDIS model that looked more like fan merchandise than something that should have a place in the real on screen TARDIS)

Also regarding your comments on 9/10's TARDIS I'd point out in its defence that whilst you may not have actually seen a door, it was always indicated there was one just off screen as we saw in the unquiet dead when 9 pointed towards where they imagined the door leading away from the console room to be and gave Rose directions on how to get to the wardrobe room, and then of course in the Christmas invasion we actually saw 10 in a wardrobe.

If it really isn't possible to change much in the interior, then on the other rooms issue, I think they could get away with doing much the same in series 12 (e.g have 13 walk into shot from the back area of the set eating and apple and have her say something like ' just went to grab a snack from the TARDIS kitchen). I just want an actual acknowledgement that there are other rooms, even if it is just a dialogue based acknowledgement rather than actually seeing anything (although obviously seeing other rooms is always better), because series 11 felt like it was written and designed by someone who had no idea that the TARDIS has other rooms, which is baffling from a long term fan such as Chibnall is supposed to be.

Mentioning the door is one thing of course... but it bugged me that they couldn't be bothered to actually build one in the set. As that set was circular, we are supposed to accept that the door is where the 'fourth wall' is (i.e. where the camera always is) My point is that it wouldnt have taken much to put one in view even if its never walked through.

On memory, 11/12's set had about 4 visible exits - none of which we actually ever saw 'used' but added to the realism.

Your point about the spinning TARDIS model is another thing that jarred with me the instant I saw it.... it IS some Dr Who merchandise (plastic or glass TARDIS model) - why on earth they decided to stick it on the console I've no idea. Given that a TARDIS is supposed to changed its external form, why put a solid model of that on the console.

Also, deserving special mention apart from the custard cream dispenser are the two hourglasses. Now, these are elegant looking things of course... but when she flies the TARDIS by spinning them.... well frankly that looks ridiculous.

And... remember when Yas's watch was 'connected'... they didn't even have some kind of believable area or panel or component to connect it to... so she basically just plopped it on top of some random plumbing fitting that happened to be on the console.

Whilst I'm on a roll here... personally I suspect that the shortcomings are apparent to the production team also - hence the fact we've seen little of it. The one thing that I think is just silly, is that at some point they realised that they had no screens or visual display reference points on or around the console, and so they get around this by picking a random bit of the structure and 'project' some display information on it. Now... I strongly suspect that this was never the intention but they realised they had messed up.

I did actually hear rumours a while back that there were serious issues with the new console room and that was proving problematic when filming. I have no idea what the nature of those problems was but it does kind of make sense that we have seen very little of it in series 11.

Given my continual whining about the console room (im sorry everyone!) I am very interested to see what happens next series. I suspect that changes will have to be made although probably the more casual viewer might not even notice. I suspect that any changes will primarily be made for production reasons (non working camera angles, waggling mechanisms that often break down) instead of functional aesthetics.

Personally, I think that the TARDIS is a huge part of Dr Who, the set is incredibly important and its something that they have to get right and can't neglect. This was a low budget poor effort and it shows. I hope they fix it.

Excellent spot.... well just for fun I wonder if there were any others as I cant remember any. That one was well hidden away in one of those brief shorts that they produced which were on the DVDs and not in a broadcast episode.

But.. point made.. doesn't it make a HUGE difference to see characters coming into an out of other parts of the ship - you get a real sense of scale.

@doctor blue box made the point earlier that "series 11 felt like it was written and designed by someone who had no idea that the TARDIS has other rooms, which is baffling from a long term fan such as Chibnall is supposed to be.".... I actually think that this is the case. Im pretty sure if ANYONE familiar with the show was tasked with designing a new console room - even if they really felt they wanted to be "radical" with the design, would at least include:

1. A functional entrance that gives the impression of the interior being inside the police box (FAIL!)
2. A functional console that has believable controls / mechanisms / displays that could pilot a space/time machine (FAIL!)
3. A visual sense that there is a huge ship beyond the console room (so add an internal door) (FAIL!)
4. A decent visual cue that the TARDIS is in flight - such as a moving time rotor etc (semi-FAIL!).

Im stunned that the new interior actually contains none of what I would reasonably assume are design pre-requisites.

BUT, as I said earlier... most of these things are fixable without too much effort.

I would fix the internal police box view (which makes no sense) by installing some internal opening doors, like the classic console rooms had.
I would significantly rebuild the console - keeping the general design aesthetic but sneaking in some actual switches and control and a screen (and lose the glass TARDIS and hourglasses).
I would change the time rotor and build it out of a more realistic glass/crystalline internally lit structure.
I would change the lighting and put in either a rear door, or just a visible alcove to show there is more.

Anyone else remember when those pictures of the set unlit were leaked, and all those who didn't approve of the mostly negative reaction told us that it would look much better when we saw it all lit up and in action?

If anything it looked worse when we saw it in action because the lighting helped us see how cheap it looked (what we could see of it, considering they didn't seem to do many panning shots, mostly close up as if they were embarrased for us to get too good a look at it.) and those arm things attached to the console look as though they might fall apart every time they're moving.

The whole thing is just a plastic-y looking disappointment, and to top it off there's been no indication or evidence that there's any other rooms in the TARDIS. If I didn't know better I'd honestly think the showrunner was someone who hadn't seen the show before, or at least not enough of it to know that there was supposed to be a door to other rooms. Yet we have someone in charge who is supposedly as big a fan as RTD and Moffat who was happy to let that design pass.

Completely agree with everything you've said there.

It looked terrible in that leaked shot... and its not much better on screen. Its an interesting observation of yours about the wide and panning shots... you are right - there aren't any and it is definitely like they are a bit embarrassed about it.

I mean, if you look at the series as a whole, the interior usage has been minimal and in fact didn't appear at all in a handful of stories. That doesn't exactly demonstrate confidence. It was also very telling on the 'big reveal' at the end of episode 2 that we hardly saw any of it.

That stupid 'custard cream' dispenser has of course not seen the light of day again - I mean.... what a silly idea, and for all the 'effort' it took to build the mechanism, exactly how and when could that be used in a story in the future?!

The console itself is stupid... very few actual 'controls' on it and its totally unbelievable and im surprised it was given the green light. I loved the last one as it actually looked functional, and I hated 9/10's as I just didn't buy the fact you would fly the TARDIS using a bicycle pump and bell. Again, take a look at those rare interior shots, when the Doctor is 'flying' the TARDIS the camera is mostly on her face rather than whatever mime she is doing on the console. Flying the TARDIS by spinning a big hour glass is just plain ridiculous and it reminds me of a console built by the same people that do those babies activity mats.

One thing I did notice, is that in Resolution we had far more interior shots than any other episode... in fact I would take a guess that its had more screen time in that one episode that the whole of the rest of series 11 combined. Also, there were some changes evident - the lighting was different and variable (blue and red modes), and they introduced that table.

Given as Ive said before, they changed the last set in quite significant ways from when it first was seen (whole additional staircase, roundels, book cases etc etc) - I am sure they can make a number of changes to at least make the thing a bit better.

Keeping it 'realistic' I would hope they address the following which as all do-able even on a small budget:

1. Change the environmental lighting, brighten it up.
2. Add a visible exit door or opening that leads to the rest of the ship. (it always really annoyed me with 9/10's set that they didn't put a door in there). I miss the old days when the Doctor was regularly seen walking through the corridors of the TARDIS and seeing more things like companion's bedrooms etc.
3. Make the main TARDIS entrance lead directly to the front of the box instead of the back - its just looks silly with the tardis no longer looking like it is 'inside' the box.
4. Do something with the 'time rotor' - it looks a bit daft going up and down.
5. Re-build those crystal columns out of a different material that actually resembles crystal. Something translucent or a resin - and ditch the waggling tips - they have rarely been seen in shot (what a waste of effort to build that mechanism!) and when they are seen (no doubt they rarely work) they just look silly. Ditch them and rebuild the columns.

Anyway, we can but hope.

Some good ideas here that you'd think wouldn't cost much to implement. Before reading your post i'd completely forgotten about (or maybe blanked out for my sanity) the custard cream dispenser and I cringed just being reminded of it ( not to mention the spinning TARDIS model that looked more like fan merchandise than something that should have a place in the real on screen TARDIS)

Also regarding your comments on 9/10's TARDIS I'd point out in its defence that whilst you may not have actually seen a door, it was always indicated there was one just off screen as we saw in the unquiet dead when 9 pointed towards where they imagined the door leading away from the console room to be and gave Rose directions on how to get to the wardrobe room, and then of course in the Christmas invasion we actually saw 10 in a wardrobe.

If it really isn't possible to change much in the interior, then on the other rooms issue, I think they could get away with doing much the same in series 12 (e.g have 13 walk into shot from the back area of the set eating and apple and have her say something like ' just went to grab a snack from the TARDIS kitchen). I just want an actual acknowledgement that there are other rooms, even if it is just a dialogue based acknowledgement rather than actually seeing anything (although obviously seeing other rooms is always better), because series 11 felt like it was written and designed by someone who had no idea that the TARDIS has other rooms, which is baffling from a long term fan such as Chibnall is supposed to be.

Mentioning the door is one thing of course... but it bugged me that they couldn't be bothered to actually build one in the set. As that set was circular, we are supposed to accept that the door is where the 'fourth wall' is (i.e. where the camera always is) My point is that it wouldnt have taken much to put one in view even if its never walked through.

On memory, 11/12's set had about 4 visible exits - none of which we actually ever saw 'used' but added to the realism.

Your point about the spinning TARDIS model is another thing that jarred with me the instant I saw it.... it IS some Dr Who merchandise (plastic or glass TARDIS model) - why on earth they decided to stick it on the console I've no idea. Given that a TARDIS is supposed to changed its external form, why put a solid model of that on the console.

Also, deserving special mention apart from the custard cream dispenser are the two hourglasses. Now, these are elegant looking things of course... but when she flies the TARDIS by spinning them.... well frankly that looks ridiculous.

And... remember when Yas's watch was 'connected'... they didn't even have some kind of believable area or panel or component to connect it to... so she basically just plopped it on top of some random plumbing fitting that happened to be on the console.

Whilst I'm on a roll here... personally I suspect that the shortcomings are apparent to the production team also - hence the fact we've seen little of it. The one thing that I think is just silly, is that at some point they realised that they had no screens or visual display reference points on or around the console, and so they get around this by picking a random bit of the structure and 'project' some display information on it. Now... I strongly suspect that this was never the intention but they realised they had messed up.

I did actually hear rumours a while back that there were serious issues with the new console room and that was proving problematic when filming. I have no idea what the nature of those problems was but it does kind of make sense that we have seen very little of it in series 11.

Given my continual whining about the console room (im sorry everyone!) I am very interested to see what happens next series. I suspect that changes will have to be made although probably the more casual viewer might not even notice. I suspect that any changes will primarily be made for production reasons (non working camera angles, waggling mechanisms that often break down) instead of functional aesthetics.

Personally, I think that the TARDIS is a huge part of Dr Who, the set is incredibly important and its something that they have to get right and can't neglect. This was a low budget poor effort and it shows. I hope they fix it.

Excellent spot.... well just for fun I wonder if there were any others as I cant remember any. That one was well hidden away in one of those brief shorts that they produced which were on the DVDs and not in a broadcast episode.

But.. point made.. doesn't it make a HUGE difference to see characters coming into an out of other parts of the ship - you get a real sense of scale.

@doctor blue box made the point earlier that "series 11 felt like it was written and designed by someone who had no idea that the TARDIS has other rooms, which is baffling from a long term fan such as Chibnall is supposed to be.".... I actually think that this is the case. Im pretty sure if ANYONE familiar with the show was tasked with designing a new console room - even if they really felt they wanted to be "radical" with the design, would at least include:

1. A functional entrance that gives the impression of the interior being inside the police box (FAIL!)
2. A functional console that has believable controls / mechanisms / displays that could pilot a space/time machine (FAIL!)
3. A visual sense that there is a huge ship beyond the console room (so add an internal door) (FAIL!)
4. A decent visual cue that the TARDIS is in flight - such as a moving time rotor etc (semi-FAIL!).

Im stunned that the new interior actually contains none of what I would reasonably assume are design pre-requisites.

BUT, as I said earlier... most of these things are fixable without too much effort.

I would fix the internal police box view (which makes no sense) by installing some internal opening doors, like the classic console rooms had.
I would significantly rebuild the console - keeping the general design aesthetic but sneaking in some actual switches and control and a screen (and lose the glass TARDIS and hourglasses).
I would change the time rotor and build it out of a more realistic glass/crystalline internally lit structure.
I would change the lighting and put in either a rear door, or just a visible alcove to show there is more.

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS shows the Doctor and the Brothers leaving the Console Room at about 12 mins and the Doctor/Clara returning there at 39 mins.

No sliding doors this time (but we do of course see them elsewhere in the ship).

I'm sure there's a scene of Capaldi leaving the Console room but can't recall what episode it is.